The Rakuzan Volleyball Club
by deltaepsilon004
Summary: Rakuzan's volleyball club practices in Gym 4. Whether or not it is actually Seijuurou's fault that he enters the wrong gymnasium is debatable, but it is quite clear that he has no one to blame but himself for being so affected by said club's manager (and her countless friends) (or servants, depending on who you ask).
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I now present to you the first of (hopefully) many installments of _The Rakuzan Volleyball Club_, a work of complete fiction whose contents include but are not limited to an incredibly OOC Akashi Seijuurou, questionable spelling, a hell of a lot of OCs, characters from every sports-related anime that I can think of/have watched/have read, and pairings of both the gay and straight persuasion._

_I encourage you to suspend your disbelief and believe me when I say that I have no intentions of pairing any actual characters up with my OCs._

_I also encourage you to believe me when I say that none of these characters are mine, except for the ones that are._

_Rated T because I am cautious, and also because language will probably happen eventually._

_Enjoy._

* * *

On the first day of his first year at Rakuzan Academy, Akashi Seijuurou (and he will never admit this) made a near-fatal, life-changing and, in the beginning, unbelievably humiliating mistake.

For the rest of his life, he would blame it on an error in the paperwork – after all, there was no way he could have made such a mistake, right? And besides, the pamphlet actually had said Gymnasium 4, and if he had been just a bit too caught up in a shogi game he was playing with himself and deciding just how to completely force all of the second- and third-years to submit to his will, well.

That was just not important at all.

But the point remains that when Seijuurou opened the doors to Gymnasium 4, ready for a new high school career free of horoscope-obsessed nanodayo-ing idiots, other assorted _children_ and one sullen ex-Teikou basketball player that stirred up feelings frighteningly close to guilt, he found himself facing a group of people that was most certainly not the basketball club.

For a second, Seijuurou was so shocked that he didn't even notice which sport it was, so mortified by the fact that he had _messed up _as he was. He just stood there, wrapped up in his thoughts – _'Wait, what is this, today was supposed to be my brand new start, Akashi Empire 2.0, actually working this time. Why are these people in my gym, I'm not in the wrong place, am I? No, that's impossible, I'm never wrong. I'm _always right_, but why are these people here, because I'm obviously not wrong, what is going on' _– until someone was kind enough to bring him back to reality.

"Um…"

Seijuurou blinks once, twice, and suddenly registers the girl standing in front of him.

It's a pleasant-looking girl with gray hair pulled back into a high ponytail, long side bangs and bright gray eyes. She's wearing a slightly confused expression and the Rakuzan girls' uniform – a light blue pleated skirt with a white collared shirt and the dark blue tie of the third years', and it's accented with a navy blue cardigan tied around her waist. Surprisingly enough, she's not wearing shoes or socks, and there's a faint sheen of sweat on her forehead.

"Who are you?" she asks.

Before Seijuurou can answer, he's interrupted by a couple of whispers from two boys wearing plain white t-shirts and athletic shorts, and Seijuurou realizes that he must have interrupted the volleyball club's practice, judging from the volleyballs that the two are holding.

"Isn't that-?"

"Yeah, Akashi or something, right? I saw him at the opening ceremony this morning."

"Akashi? Really, someone like that at our school? I heard the rumors but I didn't actually _expect_ it."

The gray-haired girl lets out a low grumble. She clears her throat loudly. "Kichirou-kun! Shouta-kun!" she calls, turning around. "Don't you two have laps to be doing or something?"

The two boys freeze at her call, mumbling out 'Yes ma'am's and tossing the volleyballs into a cart near one of the walls.

Seijuurou watches them go for a second, thoroughly but unwillingly impressed by the girl's control over her club members.

"Who are you?" she repeats, a touch of impatience in her voice.

"Akashi Seijuurou," Seijuurou says. "Who are you?"

She flashes him a grin. "Akashi Seijuurou," she drawls, completely ignoring his question. "The boys have been talking about you since the rumors first started. The famed heir to Akashi Corp. coming to our humble school, no doubt planning to take over the basketball club after that mess at Teikou."

"I-"

She ignores him. "So what do you want with us? We're just the volleyball club, aren't we? Or are you maybe looking for members to poach? I don't know, if I played basketball I wouldn't want any of us. Besides, you've got Reo-kun and Eikichi-kun, don't you? They're a handful, I know, but I heard they're good at what they do. Also Hayama from Class C's in the basketball club too, right? Isn't that enough for you?"

This time Seijuurou doesn't even try to say anything, choosing (wisely) to keep his mouth shut.

"But if you're not here for anything, you should probably leave." She smirks at him conspiratorially. "You went in the wrong gym, didn't you?"

"I did not," Seijuurou replies frostily. "I wished to look at some of the other sports clubs that Rakuzan has to offer."

The girl stifles a laugh, but nods in mock understanding anyway. "Don't worry, I get it, I get it. I'll show you around then, introduce you to some people?" she offers.

Seijuurou suddenly wishes that he had just admitted to the mistake and been done with it. It's too late to back out now while keeping face, and something about this third-year girl whose name he still doesn't have is intriguing.

"That would be nice," he accepts cordially, and her eyes flash in triumph.

"I never did give you my name, did I," she remarks offhandedly. "Mayuzumi Chisaki, third year class A. I'm the manager of Rakuzan's volleyball club. Reo-kun and Eikichi-kun are in my class, by the way, so if you need any help with them, you can just come to me."

Seijuurou vaguely remembers seeing the name Mayuzumi in one of the rosters for the basketball club that he got beforehand, someone on the third string, but before he can ask, Mayuzumi Chisaki answers his question for him.

"Also my little brother's on the basketball team. He's a bit of a dick, and he's kind of annoying, and you probably won't see him much, but he's cool once you get to know him." She frowns, pausing. "I think. I think he's awesome, but that might just be because he's my brother."

Seijuurou files away this information, marking a Mayuzumi on the basketball team as a possible person of interest in his mind. "Why has the volleyball club already begun practice?" he asks, scanning the other people in the gym. There aren't many of them, and they look like they're mostly second- or third-years, but the easy dynamic that fills the gym speaks of months of working together and growing together.

There's a sense of bitterness to watching them practice, though, because Seijuurou can't remember the last time he could feel this in the Teikou gymnasium.

He pushes the thought aside, though, and watches as Chisaki offers a tip to a sandy-haired boy practicing serves, demonstrating the motion with practiced ease. The sandy-haired boy bows slightly and thanks her profusely, calling her Chisaki-san and smiling widely. She smiles back, calling him Eita-kun with just as much fondness before walking back to Seijuurou.

"Where's your coach? And your captain?" Seijuurou asks.

Chisaki frowns. "Akio got hurt at the end of last year, I think he's taking the first week off or something. Also he's a little delinquent, so you can't expect much of him. Ezakiya-san was in America for a conference or something, I think."

Seijuurou takes this into account as well. A delinquent captain addressed with no honorific – a childhood friend of Chisaki's, most likely, and a coach who travels – either a man actively involved in the sports world or a more scholarly man, who indulges in his volleyball interests in his spare time.

"Chisaki-san! Chisaki-san!" One of the second-year boys from earlier comes running up, breathing heavily. "Chisaki-san, there's someone here to see you."

She perks up. "Who?"

The boy shrugs. "Said they were from Aoba Jousai, something about setting up a practice match?"

Chisaki lets out a small victory whoop. "Knew he wouldn't let me down. Take care of Akashi-kun for a bit, would you? Introduce yourself, play nice, show him how to do a good spike. You know the routine!" She shouts the last words over her shoulder as she dashes towards the gym doors, pausing by one of the metal benches to slip on her shoes, digging her phone out of one of the pockets in her skirt as she does so.

Seijuurou mentally assesses the boy assigned to 'take care of him'. He's tall, with long arms and long legs and a quick, slender build. He holds himself up on his toes, and he has light brown hair and cheerful black eyes.

"Uchiyama Kichirou, second year class D. Libero," he announces proudly. "Call me Uchiyama-senpai."

"Akashi Seijuurou," Seijuurou says in return. "First year class A."

"How much do you know about volleyball?" Uchiyama asks, bouncing eagerly up on his toes.

Seijuurou thinks for a second. "I know most of the basics. Libero is a receiving position, correct?"

Uchiyama nods excitedly. "Yeah, I save the rest of them when they mess up. I'm good at it too. Noya-san's better at it than me, but Chisaki-san says that if I keep at it I'll be really good because I've got good reflexes. Ezakiya-san said so too when he first saw me last year, and I'm good for teaching the kids."

Seijuurou nods absentmindedly, his gaze falling on a tall, well-built boy with long black hair pulled back into a low ponytail spiking at one of the far walls.

"That's Ichikawa Haruto," Uchiyama remarks, following Seijuurou's gaze. "He's our ace. Good at it too, but he's a little hard to speak to." He sighs dejectedly. "All of the girls love him. They come to watch our practice games just to watch him play."

Uchiyama scuffs at the ground with one sneakered toe, and Seijuurou watches, holding back his amusement. "No one ever appreciates a good receiver. Only Chisaki-san gets how awesome I am, and she's _Chisaki-san_, I can't date her or else everyone will kill me."

For not the first time, Seijuurou wonders just how much power this Chisaki has over her club.

At this point, the other second-year boy from earlier reenters the gym and jogs over to wear Uchiyama and Seijuurou are standing. "Hey Kichirou," he greets breathily before turning to Seijuurou. "Nomura Shouta, second year class D. All-around awesome person," he introduces.

Seijuurou smirks. "Akashi Seijuurou, first year class A."

Nomura looks intensely at Seijuurou for a second before shaking his head and turning to Uchiyama. "Look, Kichirou, I saw Chisaki-san on the way out. She said that Ezakiya-san just called her, said he just got off of the plane in Osaka. Gonna be here in maybe half an hour."

Uchiyama visibly brightens, a smile breaking out on his face. "Really? Yes!"

Nomura nods, his excitement level almost equal to that of his classmate's. "She said to find everyone and get them here by five minutes before."

"I'll go find Kaito-senpai and Hidekazu-senpai, then. Take care of Akashi-kun!" Uchiyama runs off, and Nomura realizes a second too late that he's just been stuck with babysitting duties.

"Sorry about this," Nomura apologizes, embarrassed. "It's just that Ezakiya-san's been away all summer and we're all really looking forward to him coming back."

Seijuurou hums in response. "It's no problem. I'm merely observing today's practice."

Nomura smiles widely and reaches out to tousle Seijuurou's crimson hair, oblivious to the younger boy's rising ire. "You're such a good kid," he sighs contentedly.

Seijuurou's eye twitches.

He ignores it.

Instead, he says, "Actually, I believe that I should probably head over to my own practice at this point. If you could point me towards the gym where the basketball club normally practices…?"

Nomura eyes him doubtfully. "Basketball practice hasn't actually started yet, but if you really want to know I guess I can show you the way."

The two pass by Chisaki on their way out of the gym, and she waves at them before rushing over to where the black-haired third-year – Ichikawa, Seijuurou recalls – and speaking to him, waving her hands around very emphatically as she does so.

Seijuurou is pointed towards the gymnasium at the end of the row of six, and he thanks Nomura solemnly before turning away and heading towards where he was supposed to be the entire time.

He checks his watch. Barely ten minutes have passed since he entered Gym 4, but for some reason it feels like it has been much, much longer.

As he walks away from the volleyball club's gym, he hears a high-pitched but distinctly masculine shriek, and puts thoughts of Teikou's team – _his team_ – out of his mind.

He does not expect to encounter the volleyball team (or its manager) again.

* * *

_A/N: Chapter 1 is a wrap! Expect chapter 2 sometime in the near future seeing as it is summer._

_Next time: The volleyball manager and her precious little brother. The eccentric but beloved coach of the volleyball club. Also there have been reports of mass gatherings of crows in the area, stay tuned for further news._


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Okay guys, here we go again. Some notes for planning: this is eventually going to go on a Tuesday update schedule so that I can keep things steady once school starts up again. I also plan on putting up a list of OCs for this story in my profile eventually because I know that it will probably get confusing once everyone is introduced. I'm planning on keeping the OCs to the Rakuzan volleyball team for the most part, but I'm not restricting myself to anything (because, you know, Seirin, but that's spoiler-y so I won't say anymore)._

_Love and good coffee to everyone who favorited, followed, or reviewed. You guys are beautiful._

_Warnings remain constant: OOC Seijuurou (and other people, I suppose), copious amounts of OCs and language._

_Not mine._

* * *

Seijuurou's plan to put the volleyball club and all of its members, as well as that unintentionally humiliating experience, out of his head, goes quite perfectly. It goes so perfectly – he's even crossed out that little mark he's made in his head about the other Mayuzumi – that if he weren't Akashi Seijuurou, he would almost be worried.

Everything falls apart once the clubs fair arrives.

It's tradition at Rakuzan to host the clubs fair after school during the second week, in order to host sign-ups for the different clubs and to expose the first-years and new students to all of the extracurricular activities that the school has to offer.

Seijuurou has no need for such a thing. He's known all along, of course, that he will never join a club other than the basketball club (which practically belonged to him already, come on), but he has never been averse to the idea of scouting out some of the school's other offerings.

As he has done with the volleyball club.

Yes.

Totally.

So, obviously, the first thing he does when the individual maps of the campus grounds and the various club booths were distributed in class is locate two different places: one, the basketball club's booth – go here, take over – and two, the volleyball club's booth – avoid at all costs if you value your pride.

Seijuurou circles the two booths in red pen, noting with dismay that all of the sports club booths are in one area of the school clustered around the gym, and the only thing between the basketball club and the volleyball club booths is the baseball club's booth, which seems like far too little of a barrier between his perfect school life and total chaos.

He's not worried, though. Everything always seems to work itself out in the end, whether it's through his own complex machinations or through some other twist of very good luck.

"Hey, Kurosawa."

Seijuurou glances over at the boy who sits next to him, a boy with reddish brown hair who is calling the boy who sits behind him in what is probably supposed to be a whisper.

"Heeeey. Kurosawa."

The boy in question, Kurosawa, looks up, annoyed. "What do you want, Isobe?" he snaps.

Isobe tips his chair back, leans over and peers down at Kurosawa's map of the school. "Have you found the volleyball club yet?"

Seijuurou stiffens and turns his attention back to the map, forcing himself to be intensely interested in the whereabouts of the mountain climbing club.

To his dismay (but not really to his surprise), his plan fails.

"Akashi knows where it is," Kurosawa sighs. "Ask him."

Seijuurou prepares his best glare, but Isobe doesn't even bother asking him. He just grins at Seijuurou and snatches the map off of Seijuurou's desk, quickly finding the two locations circled in red and copying one of them onto his own map.

"Thanks," he says in that same not-whisper, sliding the piece of paper back onto Seijuurou's desk.

Seijuurou twitches.

At this point, Hatakeyama-sensei, their homeroom teacher, who is a very short, very stereotypically Japanese woman with short black hair and small black eyes, dismisses them, and Seijuurou grabs his bag and the map and is out of the room in a flash. The halls fill quickly with excited first years, but only a few people find themselves forced to their knees by an irate redhead as he makes his way through the crowd.

Luckily, outside is better. There are a couple of people behind every booth, and some walking throughout the crowd, waving around fliers and doing their best to advertise for their club. Seijuurou watches it all with mild interest as he makes his way towards the gymnasiums.

There are two people sitting at the basketball club's booth, and a couple of people in line to put their name on the sign-up sheet, and from the sound of it, there's at least one very loud, very childish individual out in the crowd trying to drag in more newcomers.

Seijuurou skips the line and walks straight up to the front of the booth, all protests silenced by his distinct hair as well as the not unnoticeable aura of irritation he's exuding.

The two people sitting behind the booth could not be more different. One of them is a boy with chin-length black hair and kind eyes and a sense of disgust directed quite obviously towards the boy beside him, a tall, dark-skinned figure with short black hair who's stuffing his mouth with some kind of snack.

Seijuurou is intensely grateful that Atsushi at least had semi-passable manners.

The long-haired boy looks at him interestedly. "Akashi Seijuurou, right? My name is Mibuchi-"

"Reo," Seijuurou interrupts. "And Nebuya Eikichi."

Mibuchi Reo smiles up at him. "I suppose you'd be interesting in joining our basketball club, then, right?"

Seijuurou smiles back, if it could even be called a smile. "Yes, I believe I would be."

"Reo-kun, have you seen my brother?" a voice asks from behind Seijuurou.

Reo shakes his head, and Seijuurou futilely wishes that the owner of that voice doesn't recognize him.

Chisaki groans. "Ugh, he has my planner. If you see him, could you tell me? Thanks!"

She runs off towards the cafeteria.

Seijuurou can't believe his luck.

* * *

Despite that, it seems that the universe is still conspiring to force Seijuurou and the volleyball club together, and Seijuurou will deny that he briefly contemplates calling up Shintarou and inquiring about lucky items when two boys with volleyball team jackets draped over their shoulders and thick stacks of fliers in their hands approach him.

"Hello," says the first one, who is an average-looking boy with brown hair and gray eyes. "My name is Kajiyama Kaito."

"My name is Maeno Hidekazu," says the second one, who is a rather feminine boy with wavy pale blond hair and watery blue eyes.

"Join the volleyball team," they say together, almost (_almost_) intimidating in their intensity and the almost animalistic gaze in the blond one's eyes.

Seijuurou stares at them for a second. "No."

He turns to leave, telling himself quite firmly that this situation is definitely something that he can Deal With and it is in no way something Beyond His Control.

Because nothing is, of course.

Seijuurou has almost made it out safely when a shout interrupts him.

"Ah! It's Teikou boy!"

Seijuurou is not personally one for swearing. Daiki's a bit of a hopeless case, and even Tetsuya used to have his moments of intense profanity, but Seijuurou considers himself above that kind of thing.

The only word that comes to mind is _Fuck._

He pushes the grimace off of his face, however – keep up appearances, Seijuurou, you have to stay calm – and turns around to see Mayuzumi Chisaki walking towards him, dragging someone completely forgettable behind her.

He's so forgettable, in fact, that even Seijuurou has to look twice to even register that he's there, and when he takes in the exceptionally blank gaze fixated on the light novel the boy is reading, Seijuurou has to remind himself that this is not Tetsuya, Tetsuya is gone now and this is not Teikou, this is Rakuzan.

This is not Tetsuya.

"This is Chihiro, my little brother," Chisaki announces proudly, tugging the boy, who has gray hair and gray eyes to stand beside her.

It's a curious thing, to see how to people that are so obviously twins can be so different. Their face shape is identical, as is their coloring – pale, with hair and eyes in the exact same gray – but Chihiro's eyes don't have the same spark as his sister's.

He meets Seijuurou's gaze evenly. It's like staring into a void, and Seijuurou is uncharacteristically disoriented.

"Akashi Seijuurou," Seijuurou eventually says.

Chihiro hums in response, his gaze flicking back to his novel. "Nice to meet you," he says dismissively.

Chisaki rolls her eyes. "Chihiro, don't be a dick," she says mildly, reaching over and plucking the book out of his hands.

He makes a small noise of protest, but gives in quick enough and crosses his arms sullenly. "Mayuzumi Chihiro," he finally introduces.

Chisaki grins wildly. "Fantastic!" she proclaims loudly. "Then you two play nice for a little while, okay? And Chihiro, what did you do with my planner?"

"Planner?"

"Yeah, my planner. Blue cover, it's got literally everything that is important to me inside of it. Didn't you take it this morning?"

Chihiro shrugs, but looks into the bag slung over his shoulder anyway. He pulls out three different books with blue covers and holds them out to Chisaki, who takes one of them and flashes Chihiro a brilliant smile.

He scratches the side of his nose in a display of pleased embarrassment. "It's no big deal," he mumbles.

Seijuurou smirks – for all of the façade that Chihiro puts up with his aloofness and disdain, it's almost painfully clear that he adores his older sister.

It brings Seijuurou back to Tetsuya, though, and how his former teammate had always been so bluntly courteous to, well, everyone, and for a second those small things inside of him threaten to actually become real, meaningful feelings and – _No, Seijuurou, this is not how it goes. This is not how you work, this is not what you feel – _when he clears his head and puts all thoughts of Tetsuya _(why does this always happen to me, why do I always have to find the exceptional ones?)_ Chihiro is gone, and Chisaki is staring at him with eyes that are too sharp and too piercing for Seijuurou to be comfortable.

Something about her throws him off of his game, and that is not a feeling that Seijuurou knows or likes.

But what happens next has Seijuurou wondering whether or not his luck is actually good, because what happens next is a very convenient distraction.

A very convenient distraction that appears in the form of a very attractive man, and Seijuurou will freely admit to anyone that asks (because he is, of course, always right, and his sexuality has nothing to do with his absoluteness) that said very attractive man is attractive enough to make even Akashi Seijuurou look twice.

He's obviously not full Japanese, with wavy brown hair and deep golden eyes and he towers over both Chisaki and Seijuurou, probably even tall enough to match Atsushi. His gaze is sharp but his wide smile is warm, and he carries himself with an aura that makes Seijuurou think of Ryouta when the idol wasn't being a total nuisance.

"Chisaki-chan," he says softly, and Chisaki turns around and squeals in delight, wrapping her arms around the man's neck.

"Ezakiya-san!" she exclaims. "I didn't think you were coming today! Why are you here?"

The man, Ezakiya-san, shrugs and returns Chisaki's hug. "Wasn't planning on it, but I had some free time after try-outs finished so I decided to swing by for practice and see who signed up. Who's the redhead?"

"Akashi Seijuurou, I think," Chisaki announces promptly. "Self-explanatory. Akashi-kun, this is Ezakiya Gorou-san, our marvelous and ridiculously attractive coach."

Seijuurou dips his head in a small bow. Ezakiya-san smiles widely, flashing teeth that are way too shiny to be sensible. "Pleasure," he says brightly. "I see Chisaki-chan's thinking of taking on another little project, then."

Chisaki elbows him in the side. "Shut up, Ezakiya-san," she smiles, and Ezakiya-san somehow winces while still keeping that impeccable smile intact. "Anyway, Akashi-kun," she says. "Have you signed up for the basketball club yet?"

"I have," Seijuurou confirms. "I also met Reo and Eikichi earlier."

For some strange reason, he can't keep his eyes from wandering back to Ezakiya-san, whose smile seems to be even brighter than before.

Chisaki hums interestedly. "They're a bit much, aren't they," she remarks lightly, and Seijuurou can't help but agree as he thinks back to the rather loud altercation that had ensued as he had walked away from the basketball club's booth, and the childish boy with the orange-y hair who had almost assaulted him with fliers five minutes ago.

"A bit much," he agrees.

"Chisaki-chan," Ezakiya-san says suddenly, tapping Chisaki's shoulder and directing her attention towards a short boy with bright orange hair who is forcing his way through the crowds. He's wearing a black gakuran and a grayish hoodie, and once he catches sight of Chisaki, he launches himself at her with a tremendous leap that is amazing even to Seijuurou, and Chisaki catches him with one of the biggest smiles that Seijuurou has ever seen (it then occurs to him that he's seen more smiles in the past two weeks than he did during the entire last quarter of a year at Teikou) and a shout.

"Shoyo!"

* * *

_A/N: Yes, it's true. Chisaki and Chihiro have a very doting sibling relationship in my head. I don't know why. Also, Hinata Shoyo is a beautiful and all-around perfect person and I love him to death._

_If you don't watch Haikyuu, you should, because even as sports anime go, it's pretty fucking awesome._

_Do whatever you want, I guess, but if you want to leave a review for me, that would be pretty nice._

_Next time: Wait, you're a model? And _this _guy is your delinquent captain? Hold on, why am I even here?_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: So guys, I personally have a bit of a problem (wow, great job, Em, three chapters in and there's problems already) and it has something to do with the fact that I know exactly where I want to go and I have no fucking clue how to get there._

_Don't worry though, I'll figure it out somehow._

_Warnings, disclaimer, everything remains constant._

_(This is a bit short, and it makes me sad.)_

* * *

Seijuurou stares as Chisaki catches the little redhead with unexpected strength and then proceeds to fuss, pulling at his uniform and his hair and sometimes his face.

"How are your hands? Your hands are fine, right? What about your shoulder, you haven't been overworking it, have you?" she asks.

The boy, Shoyo, shakes his head, grinning hugely. "Nah, I'm fine," he says. "Club practices start tomorrow, though, so I'm super excited!"

Chisaki grins back and ruffles his hair one last time. "You just missed Chihiro," she says, and Shoyo's face drops for a moment. "But Akashi-kun's still here, so you can meet him instead."

Seijuurou stares down at the boy. He knows he's not the tallest, especially compared to his former teammates (not that he lets it get to him, of course, he is Akashi Seijuurou after all), but this boy is at least a good ten centimeters shorter, if not a bit more.

"Hinata Shoyo," Hinata Shoyo says, sticking out his hand by way of introduction. "Nice to meet you."

Seijuurou takes the hand gingerly. "Akashi Seijuurou," he returns, and for the first time, begins to wonder if he's met someone even more absolute than himself, because this Chisaki girl seems determined to ruin his perfect high school existence as well as his entire life in general.

At this point, Chisaki (thankfully) decides to grab her short friend, whose hair really is as orange as Seijuurou's is red, and drags him off in the general direction of the Rakuzan library. She shouts a few words over her shoulder about finding her little brother and 'take care of him, Ezakiya-san,' and Seijuurou wonders why she seems to think he needs taking care of all the time.

This turn of events, however, leaves Seijuurou alone with the ridiculously attractive coach who seems far too aware of his ridiculous attractiveness.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself," Ezakiya-san says with a kind of flair that should definitely be illegal and – are those sparkles? Is he seriously _sparkling_? "My name is Ezakiya Gorou. I work under the stage name LUKA, though, because my manager says that a name as old-fashioned as Gorou simply doesn't appeal to the masses.

LUKA. The name is familiar, but Seijuurou can't put the two together until Ezakiya-san, for some odd reason, winks at him.

"You're a model!" Seijuurou exclaims, because he does in fact read the newspaper and LUKA's modeling has made him internationally famous.

"Part time," Ezakiya-san corrects, at least managing to look properly abashed. "I always make time to coach the volleyball club here."

"Not enough," a voice from behind Seijuurou grumbles, and Seijuurou has to tell himself not to bring the newcomer to his knees by reflex. "Have you seen Chisaki?"

Ezakiya-san sighs morosely. "How sad," he laments. "You can't even find it in your poor troubled heart to address me by my name, Akio-kun."

Akio snorts derisively. "Have you seen Chisaki?" he asks again.

The newcomer, named Akio, according to Ezakiya-san, is a tallish boy with wavy black hair and a very kind face that is twisted into one of the fiercest, angriest glares that Seijuurou has ever seen. He glances towards Seijuurou and immediately bristles.

"What the fuck are you staring at?" he demands angrily, but doesn't keep his attention on Seijuurou long enough to hear an answer before turning back to Ezakiya-san. "Where's Chisaki?"

Ezakiya-san lets out another overly dramatic sigh. "Shoyo-kun arrived and they went off to find Chihiro-kun."

Akio groans. "The library, then." He swears quite loudly. "I'm banned from the library."

"Then just come to practice this afternoon," Ezakiya-san suggests in stark contrast to the histrionics he was putting on earlier.

Akio swears even louder. "We have practice this afternoon?"

"I would think you would know that, Akio-kun. You are the captain after all," Ezakiya-san remarks mildly.

Seijuurou does a (very subtle) double take. This is the captain? This is the delinquent captain? Sure, he seems a bit crass, and he kind of swears a lot, but he doesn't seem exactly like a _delinquent_ delinquent…

* * *

"Oh, yeah, he's a delinquent," Chisaki confirms, and Seijuurou wonders exactly how he landed in this situation.

Ezakiya-san is dressed in sweatpants and a ratty t-shirt (and still manages to look stunning) and is leading some of the younger club members through receiving drills. The brown-haired, gray-eyed boy who had nearly assaulted Seijuurou during the clubs fair is setting volleyballs towards the long-haired boy that one of the second-years from the last time had called Ichihara or Ichikawa or something, and Chisaki and Akio have trapped Seijuurou in one corner of the gymnasium and engaged him in a conversation that seems to be delighting Chisaki, infuriating Akio, and making Seijuurou very uncomfortable.

"Chisaki doesn't let me smoke anymore," Akio adds sullenly.

Chisaki slaps the back of his head. "That's because you'll kill yourself," she reprimands sharply, and Akio levels another of those fierce glares at her. "Also how do you expect to play volleyball if you're destroying yourself?" she adds grumpily.

Akio makes a face at her. She ignores him.

"So Akashi-kun," Chisaki says, changing the subject suddenly. "Why are you here anyways?"

"Ezakiya-san invited me to come and watch one of your official practices," Seijuurou replied evenly.

Akio made a low, mocking sound in the back of his throat, and Chisaki hangs her head.

"Looks like you got a new one," Akio teases, wincing as Chisaki shoves an elbow into his side. "Sorry," he says shortly. "Just calling it like I see it."

Chisaki acknowledges that with a nod of her head. "Yeah, yeah." She turns to Seijuurou. "Sorry about him, everyone I know is an idiot."

"Oi, Funakoshi," someone calls, and the tall boy with long hair comes running up. "Funakoshi, can you do quicks with Maeno?"

Akio glares at Ichikawa, but a not-too-gentle push from Chisaki towards the corner where the exceedingly strange blond boy from the clubs fair is one the floor stretching. "Watch your ankle," the manager calls as he stomps his way towards the boy, who turns and greets him with a vacant but interested stare.

Chisaki watches Akio grab a volleyball from one of the carts and toss it to Maeno, who sets it above him a couple of times. "Akio's a bit rough," she says slowly, reaching out and grabbing Ichikawa's hand, "but he's good at what he does, and he never lets the kids down. Show me your elbow."

Ichikawa obliges, extending his elbow as Chisaki feels the muscles in his lower and upper arm, running her fingers around the joint. "How's your shoulder?" she asks.

"It hurts a bit."

Chisaki rolls her eyes. "Put some ice on it and wrap it tonight. Don't do any more spikes today, though. Go run two laps, and then afterwards you can practice receiving with the underclassmen."

Ichikawa nods curtly.

"And tie your shoes!" Chisaki calls as he turns to leave, and he waves in acknowledgement.

"Is he injured?" Seijuurou asks, intrigued by Chisaki's command of the situation.

Chisaki shrugged. "He pulled his shoulder a bit in one of our last games of the year. Nothing major, but he's our ace, so we can't let him make it worse." She sighs fondly. "He's an idiot, so I have to watch him."

"You certainly seem to know what you're doing," Seijuurou remarks, and Chisaki fixes him with a hard stare.

"Of course I do," she replies. "They're my team. It's my job to take care of them."

Seijuurou doesn't say anything, but Chisaki continues anyway. "I'm the manager, so if I don't know what's best, I'm not doing my job. Akio's the captain, so if he's not making everyone the best they can be, he's not doing his job. Haruto-kun's the ace, so if he can't support us, then he's not doing his job, and we all collapse. It's only natural." She pauses, and looks at Seijuurou, who can't meet her gaze for some reason. "We are a team, after all. Would you do anything different?"

Seijuurou pretends that the feeling inside of him isn't shame, that he's done nothing wrong and that he is still as perfect as ever, but he thinks about Satsuki, who always worked so hard, and Tetsuya, who practiced until he could barely stand just so he could keep up with everyone else, and he wonders if maybe, just maybe, he did something wrong as captain to drive everyone apart so.

"Akashi-kun?"

He doesn't say anything, and Chisaki doesn't press the issue any further, but she throws a resentful glare towards Ezakiya-san, who responds with a disarmingly charming smile, and both students are thrown off guard for a second.

"Heads up, Chisaki-san!" someone calls, and she looks up in time to duck under a badly hit volleyball.

"Watch it, Kichirou-kun!" Chisaki calls back, grabbing the stray volleyball and serving it back towards Uchiyama.

There's a collective shout of assurance from the general area of the practicing members, and Chisaki smiles proudly. "Even my cute little first-years are doing well," she praises. "When do you guys start practice?"

"Not until Monday," Seijuurou says. "They're just finishing up maintenance on our two gyms, so we should be cleared to begin using them by next week."

Chisaki nods pensively. "That's what you get when you slack off over breaks," she says sagely, and Seijuurou has to tell himself not to get indignant.

"Why are you able to begin practice so early?" Seijuurou asks.

"Teachers adore me," Chisaki giggles. "We have access to our gym year-round, and we use it whenever we can, so we don't actually have to do cleaning other than the basic stuff." She reaches out and flicks Seijuurou on the forehead. "That's what you get for being lazy."

"Ne, Chisaki-san!"

"What do you want, Kichirou-kun?" Chisaki asks, turning to the second-year.

"Could you wrap my knee for me? I landed on it funny just now and it hurts a bit," Uchiyama asks.

Chisaki nods absentmindedly. "Go get the tape, then, and I think I have a spare brace in my bag," she instructs. "Second-years," she sighs exasperatedly. "So needy. You don't have any injuries, do you? Because if you do, I can wrap it."

"No, I take care of myself," Seijuurou replies, "but thank you for the sentiment."

"It's no problem," Chisaki shrugs. "I do it for everyone else, even some of the boys from the other clubs."

"Why?"

"Not all of them have managers, or managers that can handle the medical stuff, so they come to me for help. I don't object, though," she grins. "It's never bad to have good relationships with other people." Her smile hardens for a split second, so fast that if not for his eyes Seijuurou wouldn't have caught the darkness that shadows her face for that moment.

Uchiyama returns, holding a black cloth knee brace and a roll of athletic tape, and Chisaki sits him down on the floor so that she can tape his knee with practiced hands, finally pinning off the wrapping. "Tight enough?" she asks, and Uchiyama nods.

"Thanks, Chisaki-san!" Uchiyama grins. "You're the greatest manager ever!" he exclaims, and runs back to Ezakiya-san, who is giving Shoyo a tip on how to strengthen his arms for solid receives.

"I have the greatest team," Chisaki sighs, turning away as Shoyo, finished with his lesson, dashes up to her, excited to explain everything that happened complete with acting out and self-made sound effects.

Seijuurou doesn't say anything.

* * *

_A/N: Yeah, this is a Seijuurou-grows-up-and-stops-being-a-little-bitch story, hence all of the OOC Akashi warnings. Chisaki is a goddess among athletes to all of the club members, and yeah, the teachers _love_ her (it's not love, it's a bit darker than that). I feel like there should be more Shoyo, but Seijuurou (at this point) doesn't give a flying fuck about my little ball of fire, so sorry._

_Next time: Wait, aren't you the manager of the volleyball club? Why are you going to a football game? Also possible major inaccuracies in the Japanese high school calendar (if anyone can tell me if they actually start in the spring, that would be ace because I'm too lazy to look it up)._

_Until next time, fair children (give me comments and stuff, 'kay?)_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Yay for chapter 4! Surprisingly enough, this was difficult to start but really easy to finish once I actually started writing. A lot of buildup this chapter, not much exciting stuff, but stay tuned for next week and more exciting things!_

_Warnings and disclaimer remain constant. I feel like I shouldn't have to do this every single time._

* * *

For some odd reason, Seijuurou can't get Chisaki's words from the day of the clubs fair and that one volleyball club practice out of his head. He tries everything that he could think of – playing shogi online, playing shogi against himself, basking in his absoluteness and relishing the victory of winning against everyone he played shogi with, even calling up Shintarou and playing online shogi with _him._ Somewhere along the line, Seijuurou convinces himself that it is perfectly alright that his only leisure activity is shogi.

At least he always wins at it.

Nothing has ever occurred in Seijuurou's life to make him doubt himself. Throughout middle school, the Teikou basketball team had not lost a single game. They had been the undefeatable, invincible, the ultimate group of individuals united to move to a single goal.

And everyone had agreed with him. Teikou's coach had fully approved of Seijuurou's decision to make practice optional for the starters, and the Generation of Miracles' performance had only improved over that.

They had always won.

Seijuurou had always won, and therefore he was always right.

That's how these things worked, right?

Right?

Luckily for Seijuurou (and naturally everyone around him as well, because an unhappy Seijuurou is an extremely unpleasant Seijuurou), his time seems to be in high demand, and there is barely any opportunity for him to dwell on the thought that _holy fuck have I ruined the lives of everyone from my middle school oh shit what do I do_ between the basketball practices (which are going phenomenally) and the student council meetings (which, funny thing, were not even something Seijuurou had planned on doing in the first place but have turned out to be a welcome distraction), and, of course, the determined younger members of the volleyball club, who seem to believe that since Ezakiya-san's invitation to watch practice from the day of the clubs fair is still standing, and, since Ezakiya-san is too gorgeous to turn down, therefore must be accepted.

The most persistent (annoying) of the first years is Isobe Hiroki, and Seijuurou just happens to have the misfortune of sitting next to the boy.

Closely following Isobe is Kurosawa Hoshimi, whose girly name belies his surly attitude except for his moments of hero worship for both Chisaki and Akio, which are few and far between but unsettling when they do occur.

Kurosawa sits just behind Isobe, and Seijuurou wishes his last name started with a nice letter like S or T.

The pestering starts about half a week after the clubs fair.

"Hey, Akashi."

…

"Heeeeeey. Akashi."

…

"Aka-pon. Akacchan. Shicchan. Sei-kun."

…

"Akka. Akagami. Sei-chan. Ou-sama-"

"Will you just be quiet already?" Seijuurou finally snapped, turning in his seat to direct his fiercest glare at Isobe.

Isobe is a boy with reddish hair, wide eyes, and a baby face perpetually adorned with a dorky grin. He's not too tall but he's just a couple of centimeters taller than Seijuurou, and that's more than enough for Seijuurou to automatically dislike him.

Isobe is the kind of person that Seijuurou thinks he should be taller than.

Instead of withering and preferably dying like Seijuurou wishes he would, Isobe replies with a grin as cheerful as Seijuurou's glare is angry. "No can do, Shicchan," he smiles cheekily. "Ezakiya-san wants to know when you're coming to see us practice again."

Seijuurou dies a little bit inside at the mention of the volleyball club's coach and the face that pops up in his mind to accompany the name.

"I have no intention of returning to your practice," Seijuurou refuses in his best cold voice. "And please refrain from calling me 'Shicchan'."

No nicknames. Not this time, definitely not this time.

Isobe pouts.

Seijuurou triumphs (internally, of course).

"Come on, Akashi," he whines, and Seijuurou is pleased by the loss of the nickname but definitely not by the fact that his best cold voice and his fiercest glare failed to even rattle his classmate. "Ezakiya-san said says that Chisaki-san is supposed to be hanging out with you and she's your senpai so you have to listen to her."

"Chisaki?" Seijuurou asks, startled.

"Chisaki-_san_," Kurosawa snaps suddenly. "She's Chisaki -_san_ to you, Akashi," and he turns back to the math worksheet that they're supposed to be working on.

Seijuurou looks at Kurosawa for a brief second before Isobe calls his attention back. "Anyway, Akashi, you're supposed to go with her somewhere this Sunday, Ezakiya-san said so, and he also said that if you refuse to go I'm allowed to kidnap you and drag you to him so that he can deliver your punishment."

For once, Isobe's face is completely serious, and Seijuurou thanks himself that he brought a spare pair of scissors to school today.

"I'm not interested in doing anything with Chisaki," Seijuurou declines, turning back to his worksheet and ignoring Kurosawa's hiss of "Chisaki-_san_, Akashi!"

* * *

Seijuurou awakes to a ferocious pounding in his skull and total darkness beside that, and he lets out a low groan as he struggles to remember just exactly how he got into this situation.

He can remember two boys coming up to him behind the cafeteria during lunch and he can still hear the clang of a frying pan ringing in his ears, so judging by the throbbing on the back of his head, someone took him out with a frying pan.

A frying pan.

Seijuurou hopes desperately that no one from the basketball circuit ever finds out about this.

Suddenly, the blindfold is removed from his eyes, and Seijuurou finds himself in a well-lit clubroom that stinks faintly of sweat and unwashed laundry. It's a smell Seijuurou is achingly familiar with, and judging by the cart of volleyballs stuffed into one corner of the room, this is the volleyball club's clubroom.

Little lockers line two of the walls, each one with a name written above it in neat kanji. The far wall is full of old team pictures, each one labelled with a different year.

"He's awake!" a voice behind Seijuurou exclaims, and the door clicks closed. "I didn't think he'd wake up that soon."

"Yeah, you didn't have to hit him that hard," another voice says reproachfully. "Kame-chan was seriously freaking out when you dragged him in here like that."

"Of course I was freaking out!" a third voice chimes in, indignant. "You don't normally expect to find your senpai dragging unconscious bodies into the club room."

"Get used to it," the second voice sighs. "It's kind of a normal thing."

Seijuurou turns around, pushing himself into a sitting position as he narrows his eyes at the new figures. "Who are you?" he demands angrily.

To his dismay, two of them are people he has already met; the weird blond and brunet pair from the clubs fair. The blond is wearing a serene expression and holding a heavy cast iron skillet in his hands. The brunet looks tired but resigned, and the third figure is a small boy with black hair and wide brown eyes. He's a first year, going by his dark blue tie, and he looks both terrified and furious at the same time.

"Kajiyama Kaito," the brunet reintroduces.

"Maeno Hidekazu," the blond says absentmindedly, tracing designs with his fingertip in the base of the skillet.

"Ozaki Kamenosuke," the first year says angrily. "I'm sorry about what my senpai did."

"Kamenosuke?" Seijuurou repeats, unable to stifle a chuckle.

"Damn it!" Ozaki groans, throwing up his hands in defeat and storming out of the clubroom, muttering dejectedly under his breath.

"Sorry about him," Kajiyama apologizes wearily. "Kame-chan's sensitive about his name, but he'll get over it."

Seijuurou nods slowly, wincing at the stab of pain that shoots through his head.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," Maeno says lightly. "Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to."

It's quite obvious that there's absolutely no sincerity in anything the blond third year says.

"If your head hurts that much, I can get someone to bring you some ice," Kajiyama offers. "Ezakiya-san said you're not allowed to leave here until he comes to talk to you, but until then–"

The door opens. "There will be no need for that, Kaito-kun," Ezakiya-san announces as he enters. "I've brought the ice myself." He smiles broadly, and Seijuurou catches the ice pack that Ezakiya-san tosses to him, pressing it to the back of his head and scowling at the sudden cold.

Ezakiya-san kneels before him, and Seijuurou is momentarily blinded in the face of Ezakiya-san's stupidly bright smile. "I'm really sorry about Hide-kun and Kaito-kun. I thought that when I asked them to bring you to me, they would realize to avoid violence this time."

"This time?" Seijuurou echoed absently, glancing towards Maeno.

"This time," Ezakiya-san confirms. "Hide-kun over there can be a bit overzealous with his skillet." He sighs. "Kaito-kun's not much better, but they're good at the volleyball part, so we can overlook that much."

Seijuurou nods dumbly.

"Anyway, Akashi-kun," Ezakiya-san continues, fixing Seijuurou with a brilliant smile. "I had something I wanted to speak with you about."

* * *

Even as Sunday approaches, Seijuurou still can't quite figure out exactly what happened in that clubroom with Ezakiya-san, left only with a strangely ominous echo and the flash of stupidly bright teeth. With that in his head, however, he reluctantly shows up at the Kyoto Shinkansen station at 11:00 and waits at the stop, doing his best to look appropriately sullen and dignified at the same time.

Chisaki appears two minutes later, three minutes before the train arrives, wearing a black knit sweater and jeans with a shimmery gold scarf and a gold ribbon tied around her customary ponytail. There's a large tote bag slung over one shoulder, and her face brightens as she sees Seijuurou.

"Excellent!" she exclaims by way of greeting. "I didn't think you'd show up but Hide-kun promised so I figured you would." She pauses. "Oh, good morning, Akashi-kun."

"Good morning, Chisaki-san," Seijuurou replies pleasantly, reluctantly deciding to use the honorific.

Chisaki's pleasure at the honorific is obvious. She looks up at the digital clock and reaches into her bag. "Okay, so the game starts at 12:15 which means that we'll have a little less than an hour to find the stadium and get seats and stuff. You have money, right? Actually, scratch that, I'll pay. I'm older."

"Thank you," Seijuurou says, surprised, and Chisaki grins at him.

"It's nothing."

"So why are we going to Osaka, Chisaki-san?" Seijuurou asks.

"Ezakiya-san didn't tell you? We're going to watch a football game," Chisaki replies, fishing out a sleek black video camera from the depths of her tote bag. "Hold this."

Seijuurou frowns to himself. "Why a football game?" he queries. "You're just the manager of the volleyball club, right?"

Chisaki considers this for a second. "Well, yeah, I guess so. I mean, I do favors for some of the other teams in return for their stats and stuff, but that's more fun. This is more… obligation."

"Obligation?"

"Not obligation," Chisaki amends. "A friend of mine from junior high plays American football. It's his first game of the season, so I want to see where their level is at this year."

"A friend from junior high in Osaka? What school did you attend?" Seijuurou asks, turning the video camera in his hands and flipping the 'on' switch.

"Teikoku," Chisaki replies. "Elementary school was up in the Miyagi prefecture though, where Shoyo attends high school. You remember Shoyo, right? Hinata Shoyo?"

"The short orange-haired boy who visited during the clubs fair?"

Chisaki confirms this with a nod of her head. "That's the one. You went to Teikou, though, right? Isn't that in Tokyo? Why'd you come to Rakuzan?"

Seijuurou shrugs nonchalantly. "After middle school, my team decided to part ways. I simply desired a change of scenery, and Rakuzan was the most appropriate school for me to attend."

Chisaki nods understandingly, finally pulling out a leather wallet. "Yeah, I guess anyone would want a change after everything that happened to Teikou in middle school," she agreed absently. She hands Seijuurou a ticket. "No need to pay me back."

With a screech, the train pulls to a halt in front of them, and Chisaki and Seijuurou both slip onto the train with the crowd.

"What do you mean, after everything that happened to Teikou?" Seijuurou asks slowly, and Chisaki stares at him in disbelief for a second.

"You know," she starts slowly, "how you drove everyone on the Teikou basketball team apart and ultimately ended up playing a third year season that made everyone in the entire middle school basketball circuit kind of want to die? I mean, I don't know how you feel, but I'd feel awful if I did something like that."

She says nothing after that, and Seijuurou can't seem to find the courage to respond to that.

* * *

_A/N: Wait, hold up a second, is that possibly the beginning of _growth _that I'm seeing here? How do we deal with this new situation and these new feelings?_

_Notes for this chapter: All of Seijuurou's nicknames are various pet things I could think of. Akagami means 'red hair' (if you're a fan of One Piece you should know that). The Shinkensan is the bullet train, and all of the transit stuff is actually accurate because yes, I did actually do research on transit in Japan (wow, good job!)._

_Hoshimi actually is a girls' name; it means 'starlight', in case you were wondering, and for poor Ozaki I chose the strangest name I could find; Kamenosuke means 'turtle's helper'. If you guys want meanings of other names as well, just ask, but there's nothing really that special behind any of them, sorry._

_Also, if you guys could just take a little bit of time when you read to leave a quick comment, it would mean the world to me. I want to hear what you guys think about this and what you guys think I could approve on._

_Next time: Teikoku's first football match of the season told in horrible detail (so you better catch up on all of Eyeshield 21 is you haven't read it (and read it, don't watch it)), there are minor discrepancies in timelines and holy fuck, this guy is Ezakiya-san in miniature. What the hell do I do?_

_Happy reading, darlings!_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: God, I feel like dying right now._

_Fuck, I'm sorry this took so long. I had Takeru problems, and then I had Seijuurou problems, and I have a plot that I'm supposed to be following but I really just want to write Seijuurou and Chisaki dynamics because that's so fucking fun and I don't know, I feel like characterization for this chapter is absolute shit but it wasn't gonna get better._

_Usual warnings and disclaimer apply._

_Fuck school._

_Just fuck school._

* * *

Walking into Nagai stadium almost half an hour later is somewhat akin to walking into the gymnasium that had held the finals for Seijuurou's final year in middle school, and the turnout is astounding for the first game of the season. On one side of the stadium sits a sea of people decked out in black and gold. There's a harried-looking student shepherding newcomers into the stands, but Chisaki surges past him onto the sidelines of the field with a wave and a cheerful, "Morning, Takeshi-kun!", and manages to get a brilliant smile and a stammered greeting in return.

"Hurry up, Akashi-kun," she calls behind her. "They're going to start kicking spectators off the field in fifteen minutes, and I have work to do."

"You have work to do on the fields of a rival school fifteen minutes before the game starts," Seijuurou repeats incredulously, reluctantly taking the thick, black notebook Chisaki hands him.

"Hold that," she orders, diving back into her tote as they make their way across the field. "And, you know. Work work. Sports work."

As they approach the football players, a boy with long white hair looks up from where he's catching throws and waves to Chisaki. "Morning, Chisaki!" he calls, jogging over, closely followed by his already masked catching partner. "What are you doing here?"

Chisaki grins. "I have a standing invitation to come and see any game I want, free admission and bench seating, right, Takeru?" she says, turning to the second boy.

He takes off his helmet, and Seijuurou dies a little bit inside.

At no time has Seijuurou ever felt the need to justify who he finds attractive, to himself or to anyone else, because really, he's Akashi Seijuurou. It's a matter of principle, but this is just getting ridiculous.

Takeru is tall and stupidly reminiscent of Ezakiya-san, what with the ridiculous attractiveness and dumb playboy smile. Luckily for probably every involved, Takeru is not quite as ridiculously attractive as his Rakuzan counterpart, but at the same time there's a tinge of predatory viciousness to his cheerful smile that Ezakiya-san lacks. "That's right, Chisaki," he confirms, sighing dramatically. "I didn't think you'd take me up on my offer so soon, though."

"Yeah, deal with it. Akashi-kun, these are Honjou Taka and Yamato Takeru, two of the greatest people I know and also two of the greatest football players in the Japanese high school circuit. Taka, Takeru, this is Akashi Seijuurou, my kouhai. He's just learning how to be a person, so excuse the jackassery. He's a bit oblivious, but he's getting there, and he's honestly super awesome at basketball. Go talk about sports or something," Chisaki introduces, and then shoves Seijuurou at the white-haired boy, Taka.

Taka studies Seijuurou with amused eyes. "I see you've been chosen as Chisaki's next target," he muses. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Akashi."

"Likewise," Seijuurou replies. "I've heard much about you. The Japanese team's unprecedented victory at the Youth Cup was the only thing people talked about for weeks."

The older boy acknowledges this with a nod of his head. "You're not unknown yourself," he replies. "Everyone knew about what your team did during the basketball championships."

Seijuurou ponders this for a second. "I wasn't aware that it stretched as far as high school football," he remarks.

Taka lets out a low chuckle. "Not so much that it stretched this far, more that Chisaki was absolutely outraged by what you did. Called it a desecration of everything that school sports stand for, or something like that."

Something inside Seijuurou snaps. Somewhere behind that polite, attentive, kouhai mask someone is screaming, furious and angry and enthralled in his rage. "Is that so," he says blandly, swiveling to look at Chisaki, who is engaged in cheerful conversation with Yamato. "I didn't know."

"You wouldn't," Taka replies. "Chisaki doesn't like letting people know when she's angry."

Seijuurou files this away somewhere between 'possibly helpful' and 'to be destroyed' and levels his fiercest glare at Taka, who, thankfully, seems to feel at least a bit of a chill.

Honestly, these football players are just ridiculous.

"Hey, Akashi-kun!" Chisaki calls. "We should go sit down."

Seijuurou sneers at her. "Don't order me around," he snaps imperiously, and storms off the field, back past the student who is now slumped against the wall, exhausted from the crowds of people.

As he storms out of the stadium and into the streets of Osaka, where it has just begun it drizzle, he gets a strange sense of accomplishment from the mental image of Chisaki standing bewildered in the center of the field with those two Osaka boys.

The drizzle slowly increases into a steady thrumming of rain on rooftops and sidewalks and storefront windows. Seijuurou remains standing just outside the stadium, staring up at the sky and wondering exactly why he feels so empty all of a sudden.

* * *

Time passes in the way that time lost does, slowly and quickly and all at once, and when Seijuurou feels the tap on his shoulder, he has no idea how long he has been sitting in the pouring rain on one of the benches that line the sidewalk.

"Hey."

Seijuurou forces himself to remain still, staring down at his clasped hands, bent over his knees.

"Hey, you."

"What?" he grinds out.

"Look at me."

Reluctantly, Seijuurou brings himself around to face Chisaki, who is just as soaked as him, her face flushed and her breathing heavy. "What the fuck was that?" she asks breathlessly. "Are you really that much of an inconsiderate asshole?"

Seijuurou can't say anything.

"What, did you think I would leave you here alone in Osaka to sulk about how you can't have complete control over every person on the planet? News flash, kid, _you can't_. So get over yourself, you're not that incredible," she rages. "You walk around with your name and your asshole reputation painted on your face and you expect everyone to bow down to you because you've got a bit of talent and you're kind of smart, but guess what? A lot of people have got a bit of talent and are kind of smart, but you don't see them actively ruining lives and making asses of themselves. So you better pull your head out of your ass along with that stick pretty fucking quickly, or you are going to get eaten alive."

Chisaki's gaze softens unexpectedly. "Now get up, you horrible idiot, we're gonna miss the train back."

She offers him her hand, and Seijuurou takes it hesitantly, unsure of whether to expect another furious outburst. Chisaki bursts out into laughter.

"Oh, seriously, I'm not going to bite you or something," she giggles. "Come on, let's go."

The walk to the train station passes in something that can't quite be called a comfortable silence, because there is a tension in the air that chokes Seijuurou's words when they're still in his throat, and Chisaki seems quite pleased to let it sit there. Eventually, as they're standing on the platform, waiting for the train, Chisaki speaks.

"It's not like I'm actively trying to find things to dislike about you," she says slowly. "If you're not being an ass about it, you're still one of those delightfully awkward teenage boys that has no idea how to properly conduct themselves in the company of other people. You're just even worse at it than normal people, and you've got a superiority complex the size of Mars to boot, so I can't rely help picking at all your problems."

"I assume that this is what was meant by 'project' and 'target'?" Seijuurou asks.

"Yeah," Chisaki sighs, flushing slightly. "My teammates seem to think of me as someone who's good at 'fixing people'. I don't see it personally, but when I first met him Takeru was the most incredibly condescending little bitch I had ever met, and now he's just stupidly nice, so I guess that's a victory? I don't really know."

Seijuurou ponders this for a second. "If you don't agree with them, then why do you agree? Why do this?"

Chisaki pauses, picking up her tote bag as the train pulls to a stop in front of them. "I guess it's because I like helping people," she says absentmindedly. "That, and you're pathetic. If you're going to act awesome you can't be pathetic. I can't let that happen."

"So now I'm pathetic as well?" Seijuurou muses amusedly.

Chisaki nods emphatically. "Your lack of awareness of just how awful you are is humiliating for someone as perceptive as you. Work on that." The two manage to grab train seats just beside the door.

Silence grows between them, a comfortable, open silence that still manages to feel terribly oppressing to Seijuurou. Chisaki sits beside him, their knees knocking together as the train rocks back and forth, and not for the first time since he started at Rakuzan, he thinks of Tetsuya and his old team and just how wrong he may or may not have been.

It's terrifying.

There's no other word for it.

Seijuurou doesn't quite know how terror feels, but he figures that this must be it.

* * *

_A/N: So in the end I finally got this chapter to a semi-passable point, and it's a bit short, I know, but it already felt like I was forcing it on and it felt really weird so._

_Hopefully the next chapter will come out quicker than this one. I think I know where to go from here, so I feel a bit better now._

_Next time: it's back to Rakuzan and back to volleyball and maybe even a little basketball if I can pull off the characterization! _

_Guys, there's seriously a reason why I write OCs. It's because I suck at characterization._

_No promises on release dates, because I am desperately trying to stay on top of my schoolwork in hopes of a school trip that I want to go on. This is a side project._

_As always, if you have time or motivation or if you're just that awesome of a person, leave a review or a comment or favorite or follow or something like that. Or don't._

_Until next time, kids._


End file.
